By Carl Massy: I remember a quote by Paramahansa Yogananda where he simply stated that “The environment is stronger than the will“. Yogananda was the author of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi‘ and a revered spiritual teacher.
It is said (and supported by a notarised statement signed by the Director of Forest Lawn Memorial-Park) that “No physical disintegration was visible in his body even twenty days after death.” The reason I wanted to point this out, was obviously Yogananda was a pretty spiritually evolved dude, but even he recognized the impact of the environment on the RESULTS we get in life.
Now the Carl Massy spin…if you want to change the results you get in life, then the first thing that needs to change is you (I am sure you realize this). And in order to truly change YOU there is a very high likelihood you will also need to change your environment. That environment might be the work you perform, the place you live, the people you are friends with, the social events you partake in, the relationships you have, the company you work for, the places you eat, and even vacations you take.
A pretty extreme example of the impact of your environment is if you choose to hang out with criminals, eventually your values would be affected and you might start committing the odd pretty crime around your neighborhood ;-). Stealing a few bucks out of a mate’s wallet, stealing eggs from the local farmers chicken pen, eating your daughters last chocolate bar, or relocating your neighbors newspaper to your coffee table. And on the good side of the coin, if you hang around with high quality people all of that goodness rubs off on you as well.
Now let’s look at a specific example. Say you have a friend (of course this example is not applicable to you or I ;-)) who wants to get fit, be more focused at work, have higher levels of energy and the ability to handle stress better; but spends their social time with the same bunch of people who like to sit around complaining about life while they drink their body weight in beer and eat KFC by the bucket. What do you think their chances of success are? Really? Zero?
I am sure that you all agree that it is hard enough to make significant, lasting change in your life without making it harder for yourself. So we are about recognizing that environment not only has some impact on your results, but it has an ENORMOUSLY GIGANTICASOROUSLY HUGE impact on the change you make and ultimately the results you get in life.
So set yourself up for Success. And also realize that you may have to let some things go, leave them behind, or avoid them all together. This may even include people. I have consistently found peoples greatest personal growth spurts are made when they break away from the pack.
Is there something or someone that you need to move on from or avoid in order for you to become your Best Self? Don’t feel bad about it. The better person you become the better person you become for all those special people around you.
So here is a small activity for you. Write down 3 things or people 😉 you could remove from your life (or avoid) to help you get better results in life and therefore become more of your Best Self.
Ahhh…liberating…
Have an awesome day too!
Cheers,
Email: carl@carlmassy.com
